The Developers Alliance is disappointed at the European Commission’s decision in its Android investigation. Today’s decision will inevitably lead to changes to Android’s free, open source model which, in time, will harm the Android ecosystem, rather than help it grow.

A report commissioned by the Developers Alliance and produced by London Economics shows that the proposed ePrivacy Regulation being discussed in Brussels is potentially costly, definitely confusing, and likely to reduce innovation and investment across the EU. The total costs could soar as high as €551.9 billion annually in reduced turnover, with an impact far beyond the technology sector.

There are hundreds of emergency services applications in use across Europe, but they can currently only be used locally. In 2018, this should be a cause for alarm, so public safety organisation, EENA, together with Beta 80, Deveryware and the Developers Alliance, is going to do something about it.

Developers Alliance Press Release on the Publication of the European Commission Proposal for a Regulation on Promoting Fairness and Transparency for Business Users of Online Intermediation Services and Online Search Engines in the Digital Single Market

Developers Alliance Director of European Policy and Government Relations, Michela Palladino, released the following reaction to the statements of Bruno Le Maire, France’s Economy Minister on the relationship between developers and app stores, such as Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

Today the Developers Alliance and CCIA Europe sent a letter to the European Parliament on the European Commission's proposed "provisions on cross-border data flows and personal data protection in EU trade and investment agreements".

Today a group of industry and civil society representatives sent a letter urging the European Commission to uphold its promise to continue dialogues and exchanges with stakeholders on how best to tackle illegal content online.

BRUSSELS -- Today the Developers Alliance, joined by dozens of mobile application developers, sent a letter to the European Commission cautioning against actions that could fragment the mobile ecosystem, reduce competition by raising costs for developers and consumers, and undermine Europe’s success in the global digital economy.

The European Commission has been investigating Google’s Android mobile operating system for the past years and could potentially require Google to modify its business practices in ways that would compromise Android’s free, open source model. Such changes, warned the letter, “could adversely impact European businesses and the EU’s global leadership in app economy.” A 2016 report by the Progressive Policy Institute showed that Europe has more than 1.6 million Android developers, nearly the same number as the United States[1]. In addition, Android apps created by European developers are downloaded more than 2.5 billion times per month by users around the world, a significant percentage of the global total.

At stake for developers is a growing global ecosystem, that the app market analyst App Annie believes will surpass $110 billion in 2018, a 30 percent increase from last year[2]. Currently, developers can build applications on Android that are seamlessly integrated into 24,000 unique Android devices made by 1,300 brands. Such diversity allows application developers to reach 2 billion users in 190 countries.

But developers expressed concern that changes to Android’s business model “could undermine the consistency of various Android devices, which would be lethal to our businesses,” as “it does not make business sense to develop different versions of our applications for each of the thousands of Android devices.”

Boris Kolev, Vice-President for Business Development at Digimark, a Bulgarian fast-growing mobile app studio, stated: "Relying on an open and secure Android platform is essential for our business. We fear that the European Commission's investigation will have as a result a more fragmented Android, and that will make developing more expensive for clients and harder for us."

Developers believe that the current mobile ecosystem is healthy and competitive, and that free, open-source platforms like Android allow them to innovate and create exciting new products and services.

"Android’s contribution to the open source community has been responsible for the creativity and innovation in the European mobile economy, giving developers the tools and platform to create, and maintain new businesses disrupting traditional market sectors.", said Ash Davies, Senior Android Developer for ImmobilienScout24, Germany's leading digital real estate marketplace.

"Beard Brothers dot global is opposed to measures that risk fragmenting an open system, like Android. We call on the EU to ensure the mobile space is free and open. Europe's digital future and the profitability of many EU businesses, small and large, are at stake. This includes our clients and collaborators in France.", added Adam LG Ring, Co-founder at Beard Brothers dot global, a startup-oriented global digital agency.

The European Commission is expected to issue a finding from this investigation later this year.

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About the Developers Alliance

The Developers Alliance is the world’s leading advocate for software developers and the companies invested in their success. Alliance members include industry leaders in consumer, enterprise, industrial, and emerging software development, and a global network of more than 70,000 developers.